Center Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup after healing from a mild concussion suffered 12 days ago, netminder Tim Thomas stopped 31 shots for his first shutout of this postseason, and defensemen Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference, Johnny Boychuk and even Tomas Kaberle all stepped up in their zones.

Bergeron went back to executing what he does best, winning 64 percent of his faceoffs (18 of 28). Seven other Bruins who were in the faceoff circle went only 19 for 37 (51%).

Bergeron skated 29 shifts and totaled 19:13 in ice time, including 1:44 on the power play and 1:23 on the penalty kill, producing two shots on goal.

"When we decided to dress him he was 100 percent and we felt confident about that," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said after the game. "My first question to him was, ‘Are you comfortable coming back?’ and there was no doubt in his mind. He said, ‘I’m fine, I’m ready to go.' And that was something that was important for everybody.

"I really liked the way he played. Obviously you see the difference he can make for our hockey club faceoff wise, but also his responsibility on both ends of the ice."

For Thomas, it's almost surprising that it was only his first shutout in these playoffs, with his last coming in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Carolina Hurricanes in 2009. By the end of the night, his goals-against average dropped from 2.39 to 2.23 and his save percentage rose from .927 to .932.

"We’ve said so much about Tim and rightfully so, he’s been a great goaltender. He made some big saves when he had to and he’s been good," Julien said. "I guess this is the way this team is, he’ll give credit to the people in front of him and I think it’s very deserving because our team did play well in front of him. But when (Tampa Bay) had some great opportunities, he was also there to make the big saves."

The Bruins' defense did have a huge hand in securing the shutout bid. Chara broke up a Lightning 2-on-1 break midway through the first period as forwards Martin St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier were ready to school Thomas. He reached out and batted the puck out of their control to keep it out of harm's way.

The Bruins' captain played nearly half of the contest, recording 28:27 of ice time to go with Seidenberg's 28:30.

Boychuk had a hand in Boston’s goal just 1:09 into the first period. He logged a secondary assist when he passed the puck against the boards to forward Milan Lucic, who then fed it to a wide-open David Krejci planted in front of Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson.

The assist gave Boychuk four points (two goals, two assists) in his last five games and it was Krejci’s fourth game-winning goal of the playoffs, tying Cam Neely’s franchise mark for a single postseason.

Boston's penalty kill was a perfect 3 for 3 and Ference's blast 8:12 into the final frame gave his team that extra cushion.

The goal was originally credited to Bruins rookie Tyler Seguin in what looked like a tip-in, but the replay clearly showed it touched no one and slid its way just over the goal line.

The Bruins need to continue their same play for Game 4 Saturday afternoon at 1:30 at St. Pete Times Forum. It’s still a long series, but if Boston is able to hold and frustrate the Lightning offense, it’s got a good chance to take a commanding series lead back home for Game 5 on Monday.